habemus papam

Cardinal Ratzinger's selection as pope, however, has been less heartily welcomed by many commentators in Europe and the United States, who have quickly characterized him as an "authoritarian," a "watchdog" and, most peculiarly, a "neoconservative."

But this is a severe misreading of the man and shows that his critics paid little attention to that sermon, how he connected with the million or so young people who turned out, led not by enthusiasm, but by a remarkable sense of prayer, devotion and respectful silence.

The new pope will not be a clone of the old. I've spoken to him several times over the last 40 years, and he is a much shyer man, quieter, more like a country pastor or a scholar than like an actor striding across all history as his stage. When one approaches him, he seems to back up an inch or two in diffidence. His voice is much softer than one expects.

i'm happy about our new pope, benedict XVI. in the coming days and months, there will be a lot of thinly-veiled criticism of him in the american press. already they love to talk about how conservative he is - his positions on abortion, birth control, homosexuality, female priests. hey, remember that guy who came before him.....the one who has been unceasingly praised and called a saint......one of the greatest moral leaders of all time.......oh, you know, whatisname......john paul II? i could be wrong, but i'm pretty sure he held exactly the same beliefs.

and then there's the whole issue of him being european. anyone who thought that the pope should be chosen based on race (african, south american) is operating under flawed system of logic. he should have been african no more than he should have been eurpoean - race is immaterial. this decision was not made by racist white men, it was made by the Holy Spirit. the cardinals were simply vessels through which God expressed His will. however, do i think there will be a pope from the third world soon? yes, largely because the faith is growing by leaps and bounds there. but like i said, the media just feels the need to cook up a scandal and so they'll be blowing everything out of proportion.

i'll tell you what i do like about this guy (and it's a lot of what i liked about jpII) - he's willing to defend the faith unwaveringly. when you lead 1 billion catholics and stand as a moral authority for the whole world, you don't have the luxury of compromising your values. it is vital that you are resolute in your beliefs. being progressive or modern is not important, upholding standards of truth and justice in the face of relentless criticism is what makes a good pope. from what i've read about benedict, he seems to be just the man for the job. so praise God, we have a papa once again.